Putting it away

You didn't say it was a test!

A young man who was well thought of by his employer found out that life is "the test".

What happened is this. The young man was very promising, he was knowledgeable about his job as well as being enthusiastic. His problem, if any was that he could lose focus on what he was doing and as such needed constant supervision. The young man didn't see this and when ever it was discussed he would blow it off as though his employer was picking on him.

One day the employer had to leave the work place and as no one else was around he explained to the young man that he would be gone all morning. He told the young man that he would be left alone. He gave the young man a series of jobs to do that he would be able to get through without any problems.

The employer went off and did what he had to do. When he returned it was clear that the young man had done very little of the work allocated.

The employer asked the young man had any clients come in and taken up his time and the young man said no. The employer asked why the work allocated hadn't been completed. The young man who had pretty much simply mucked around all morning couldn't offer an explanation.

The employer then explained that this is why he cant leave the young man to work alone or give him more responsibility, thus preventing the young man from earning more.

The young man who still couldn't understand his lack of focus or lack of responsibility said to his employer, "but you didn't tell me that it was going to be a test".

The lesson that the young man didn't understand is that life is the test. Everything you do is the test. You can't expect a warning so that you can perform at your best for a morning and be judged on that. You are judged on what you do every morning.

The second part of the lesson which is the OH AH moment is that you are not rewarded in life because you put in your best effort once in a while because you are under watch. You are rewarded in life because of the effort you put in at every moment and more specifically when you are out to impress no one but yourself.

On the Spot

A similar situation but with a much older man is the one where an experienced salesman was talking with his employer. The salesman had been performing below expectations for a long period. The employer really wanted to help the salesman and as they were talking asked the salesman to give a few reasons why a customer would want to deal with him.

The salesman was at a loss for words. The employer explained that that may be the problem because the salesman had no reasons why a customer would want to deal with him. The salesman a little agitated said to the employer, "but you have put me on the spot".

The lesson here is not a lesson for salespeople, it is a lesson for everyone. Your life is the "spot". If you cant perform the mental side of your occupation at any given time it is hard to see how you can perform regularly at all.

If you want to get the most out of your work you have to give it the most that you can. Your work is what rewards you so it is important to do something you like and then to be the best at doing that thing as you can.